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Tips and Tricks

This section contains helpful hints regarding various aspects of Microsoft Dynamics software. This section is updated frequently. If you don't see a topic of interest here, then please look in the Tips and Tricks Archive.

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MO, Sales Order, & Invoice Number Relationship

When an MO is created automatically and tied to a sales order, there is a clearly defined link between the manufacturing order (MO) and the sales order. Getting to the invoice generated from the sales order is easy as well.

In the Sales Order, there is an icon that looks like a piece of paper with a paper clip attached in the line items tied to the MO. Clicking on the item line and then clicking on the matching icon in the header of the scrolling list of items opens a window that displays the number of the related manufacturing order and allows that document to be displayed.

Invoices are created from sales orders. Next to the sales order number is an Expansion Arrow icon (blue arrow). Clicking on this icon opens a window that displays all of the related documents to the current sales document. Invoices, back orders, quotes, etc will all be listed. The path between the documents can be easily seen, showing how the sale originated and the path through to invoicing.

The MO/SOP link is discussed in detail in both Understanding Sales Order Processing and in the Shop Operations manuals.

Wondering What Landed Cost Does?

Landed Costs absorbs the cost of shipping (port charges, duty, any transportation or acquisition fees as well) into the cost of the product in inventory while maintaining the cost of the product from the vendor for future purchases.

Let's say you are buying on a PO an item that the vendor is charging $10 for and paying $1 shipping.

If you pay the vendor for shipping, one type of setup absorbs the shipping cost from the vendor's invoice into the cost of the item and puts $11 on the shelf.

If you pay shipping separately, the two invoices are related. The item is received into inventory at $11 with RNI of $10 to the vendor and $1 to the shipper. The two vouchers are matched to the two charges.

In both cases, the cost of the item paid to the vendor remains $10 on the Vendor Item card so the next PO to the vendor shows $10 as the item cost. The value of inventory is shown at $11.

Lock Box Processing: What Does It Do?

When receivables become significant, the process of handling all of the incoming checks (recording payments, making deposits, taking them to the bank) becomes significant. Some firms look for ways to expedite this process, including scanning the checks. That only solves half of the problem as the deposit still needs to be made.

Talk to your bank about a lock box. With a lock box, customers are instructed to send payments to a PO box. The bank picks up the payments, deposits them, and sends you a list of who made a payment of how much on what date against which invoices.

The document the bank sends your firm is then imported into GP using Lock Box Processing and almost automatically posted to receivables. You have an opportunity to review the list of payments and to add missing information or make corrections as necessary. But more than half the work is done and the money is already in your account!

Parameters That Don't Match

If a user is allowed to enter a value in a parameter to limit the data displayed, the comparison will pit the entered data against data stored in the tables. MS Dynamics GP pads character fields with spaces. Thus a city named Smith in a 25 character field contains Smith plus 20 spaces. Unless the user types the 20 spaces or the expression uses the Trim function, the comparison will fail.

There are two solutions to this problem.

1. In the filter created in the data set, compare the trim(field) to trim(parameter). Using these trim functions will remove all blanks from the dnd of both the field and the parameter.

2. Another option is to offer the users a list of values from the table and require the user to select one of the values. Since the values come from the data base, the selection made for the parameter will be padded with blanks and will match data in the table.

Inventory Cost Layers

A cost layer is recorded in GP for every receipt of every item. The cost layer record records the cost paid for the receipt, the document numbers, and the quantity received. Depending on your valuation method (FIFO vs LIFO) as parts are used, the Quantity Sold field is incremented until it equals the Quantity Received, indicating the entire layer is consumed.

These cost layer records can be viewed in, of all places, Inventory->Utiliites->Adjust Costs.

The data is held in the table IV10200.

More information on cost layers can be found in our books Information Flow and Postingor Inventory Control Techniques.